It’s hard to describe to young LGBT activists what it was like 20 years ago when our friends and lovers were dying every week, slipping like water through our desperate clenched fists. There were no HIV/AIDS meds and no one cared – especially not the federal government. But we found ways to take care of ourselves and to love bravely as if dancing in a minefield, as Paul Monette used to say.
Paul Serchia was one of those who refused to give up on life, who gave to and honored others, even as cancer added to his burden of living with HIV/AIDS. Indeed, he had hoped to ride as a “Positive Pedaler” in the 2010 AIDS/LifeCycle8. Paul died last Tuesday, March 2. He was 52.
Please click inside to read remembrances from ACT UP/LA’s Peter Cashman, Jim Key from the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, and a blog post by Paul about his struggle with cancer.
In the past decade alone, America’s same-sex couples have been unfairly deprived of more than $2 billion in Social Security benefits, according to the Williams Institute. As the LA Gay & Lesbian Center points out, “all of us are required to pay into Social Security equally, but many LGBT seniors are deniedvital benefits afforded to others. This is wrong no matter what city, state, country, or planet you are from.”
The Center and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have joined together “to fight to eliminate the unfair and unequal Social Security policies and secure full recognition of same-sex relationships. Rock for Equality will confront this under-recognized but outrageous form of economic discrimination against LGBT Americans.”
UPDATE: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Administration on Aging (AoA) just announced a 3-year grant to SAGE - Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders – $900,000 to create a national resource center on LGBT aging.
Rachel Maddow fans know how she gets all geeky-giggly when talking about “infrastructure” – how great the need is to fix and maintain the crumbling structures and the highways and byways that keep America moving.
Perhaps someone in the US Interior Department should talk to Michael Fleming, Executive Director of the David Bohnett Foundation to see how it’s done. Late Wednesday, Fleming announced grants totally $500,000 to “refresh” the computers in 24 David Bohnett CyberCenters across the United States, including the CyberCenter at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. (Pictured: Paul Moore, Program Manager, David Bohnett Foundation and Lorri L. Jean, Chief Executive Officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center; photo by Patricia Williams.)
The “refresh” program was started in 2004 to keep the CyberCenters up-to-date with each CyberCenter receiving brand new state-of-the-art equipment on a consistent basis, about every three to four years.
Building self-perpetuation into a development plan – what a concept! But this is not just routine maintenance: this is social activism quietly at work. Click inside to read more about the program and what cities are getting grants
At his Inauguration in 1960, President John F. Kennedy said the torch had been passed to a new generation. “Ask not what your country can do for you,” Kennedy said, “ask what you can do for your country.”
And young people by the thousands responded, joining the Peace Corp and creating a counter-culture that cared about eliminating racism and sexism and poverty. LGBT people were there, too – some on the frontlines like the late Morris Kight and Don Kilhefner who created the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center as a refuge for those coming to terms with their gay identity.
But now, after 50 years of serving America in numerous ways – including automatically paying into Social Security – tax-paying LGBT seniors are asking their country to do something for them: they want – and need – the Social Security they deserve when a partner passes away. Many seniors are used to two-household incomes and without the Social Security supplement – especially in this economy – many seniors are finding themselves with huge bills, no money and living in their cars while awaiting precious and scarce affordable housing.
Leading a new campaign to bring awareness to the urgency of this issue is the LA Gay & Lesbian Center with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Wednesday they launched Rock for Equality, a rally & rock-in to call attention to and end the severe economic discrimination that is embedded in Social Security Administration policies and to secure equal recognition of same-sex relationships.”
They are producing a national event on either side of Tax Day. The first rocking rally will be held in Los Angeles on April 11, 2010, followed by another in Washington, D.C. on April 18.
Rock for Equality is also being lead by seniors themselves, some of whom are featured in this video and on the website. They are billing the event as “a new kind of protest for one of the most critical civil rights issues of the 21st Century: equal rights, equal recognition and economic fairness for LGBT Americans.” Please click inside for more info.
“We’re shocked that Buju Banton, a singer with a long record of performing a song that glorifies the murder of gay people, would be honored with a Grammy nomination, regardless of the artistic merit of any of his work.”
Similar complaints were made in 2001 about a young white rapper named Eminem whose lyrics were often violent towards women and gays. Artists such as Elton John defended Eminem’s poetry and his right to artistic expression. (Click inside to read more and see the video of Elton John and Eminem performing at the Grammys.) But in the case of Buju Banton, the more likely defense would be a cultural assumption that Banton’s Jamaican reggae dance hall “murder music” is a kissing-cousin to the catchy empowering tunes of the beloved late singer Bob Marley. The two could not be more different. Here’s the unique documentary Playing for Change version of Marley’s still moving “One Love.”
More than three decades ago, in my mid-20s, I took my first oath of office as a member of the Los Angeles City Council. Today, I’m 60, and one of our county’s longest-serving elected officials. I’d like to think that constituents have given me the privilege of serving them on the council and the Board of Supervisors because they know I’ve consistently put their needs first.
Openly gay LA Police Commissioner Rob Saltzman looks like the distinguished USC legal academic he is. But on Tuesday, he emerged as a kind of Rachel Maddow-style Geek Superhero, catching the Boy Scouts of America-linked Learning for Life attorney in his attempt to flimflam the commission. After a decade of complaints from the LGBT community, the Police Commission finally agreed to sever ties between the LAPD and the BSA-Learning for Life Explorers Program. In two weeks, the LAPD must come back with a detailed plan for its own youth program. Click inside for details – and red flag warnings.
Tomorrow morning, the Los Angeles Police Commission will once again hold a public hearing concerning the connection between the LAPD’s Explorers Program and the Boy Scouts of America, which proudly and legally discriminates against LGBT people. A new opinion by LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich calls for the LAPD to sever ties to the Boy Scouts – but that’s not as easy as it may sound. For at least 8 years since the LA City Council first ordered the LAPD to sever ties, the LA Police Commission has dodged the issue. I argue here that by failing to sever ties, the Police Commission is complicit with the Boys Scouts’ bigotry and is continuing to fail LGBT youth. Click inside for my argument.
It’s hard to describe to young LGBT activists what it was like 20 years ago when our friends and lovers were dying every week, slipping like water through our desperate clenched fists. There were no HIV/AIDS meds and no one cared – especially not the federal government. But we found ways to take care of ourselves and to love bravely as if dancing in a minefield, as Paul Monette used to say.
IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THE LAW.
Rachel Maddow fans know how she gets all geeky-giggly when talking about “infrastructure” – how great the need is to fix and maintain the crumbling structures and the highways and byways that keep America moving.
At his Inauguration in 1960, President John F. Kennedy said the torch had been passed to a new generation. “Ask not what your country can do for you,” Kennedy said, “ask what you can do for your country.”
The 
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is trying something new – he’s posting 
Openly gay LA Police Commissioner Rob Saltzman looks like the distinguished USC legal academic he is. But on Tuesday, he emerged as a kind of Rachel Maddow-style Geek Superhero, catching the Boy Scouts of America-linked Learning for Life attorney in his attempt to flimflam the commission. After a decade of complaints from the LGBT community, the Police Commission finally agreed to sever ties between the LAPD and the BSA-Learning for Life Explorers Program. In two weeks, the LAPD must come back with a detailed plan for its own youth program. Click inside for details – and red flag warnings. 
Tomorrow morning, the Los Angeles Police Commission will once again hold a public hearing concerning the connection between the LAPD’s Explorers Program and the Boy Scouts of America, which proudly and legally discriminates against LGBT people. A new opinion by LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich calls for the LAPD to sever ties to the Boy Scouts – but that’s not as easy as it may sound. For at least 8 years since the LA City Council first ordered the LAPD to sever ties, the LA Police Commission has dodged the issue. I argue here that by failing to sever ties, the Police Commission is complicit with the Boys Scouts’ bigotry and is continuing to fail LGBT youth. Click inside for my argument. 
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